Edgar Links U.s. Road Funding To More Jobs

February 03, 1993|By Linda M. Harrington, Chicago Tribune.

WASHINGTON — Gov. Jim Edgar urged Congress on Tuesday to support increased federal funding for infrastructure, which he said would spur economic growth, reduce the federal deficit and create more than 4,600 jobs in Illinois.

Edgar and a bipartisan panel of governors, in the nation's capital for the winter meeting of the National Governors' Association, called for spending an additional $8 billion to $10 billion annually for five years on surface transportation, water cleanup and community development.

The governors also gave a subcommittee of the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation a detailed package on infrastructure investment that they developed.

The plan asserts that investment in national infrastructure would provide short- and long-term benefits that would spur the economy and reduce the federal deficit.

"It employs people in the short term and provides us with a better infrastructure to crack long-term economic development," said Edgar, a Republican.

The proposal, calling for additional funding for state projects that could start within 90 days, would provide a shot in the arm to local economies by creating jobs quickly.

More than $328 million in Illinois projects are ready to go, Edgar said; nationwide, the figure for such projects is $6.5 billion.

The program "will be able to get needed projects under construction quickly, getting dollars into the economy and people back to work . . . without raising taxes," Edgar said. Resurfacing and repairing streets are examples of projects that would qualify, and such maintenance would save money in the long run, he added.

During the three-day governors meeting, members of the association met with President Clinton, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros, and Transportation Secretary Frederico Pena about health care and economic stimulus.

After the governors meeting adjourned Tuesday, Edgar traveled to Capitol Hill to emphasize the link between a strong transportation infrastructure and a healthy economy.

At the hearing Edgar called for full funding of the federal program designed to spur the building of roads, highways, bridges and mass-transit systems. Money for the program has been sitting in the Highway Trust Fund, and Edgar estimated that spending it could create 63,000 jobs nationwide in the construction industry and another 63,000 in related sectors. Illinois would gain about 4,600 of those jobs in the first year, he said.

Govs. Michael Sullivan of Wyoming, Bruce Sundlun of Rhode Island, Bob Miller of Nevada and E. Benjamin Nelson of Nebraska also testified before the congressional hearing, the second in a series on infrastructure. The committee expects to hear from fellow members of Congress Wednesday.